WOW... Day two at Mashable Connect 2012 was an awesome experience. Where to start? We had the privilege of hearing from 14 inspiring and visionary thought leaders. And suffice to say that despite being jet lagged and have slept only for three hours, I managed to stay awake and cherish every minute of these 14 stimulating sessions.

I am not going to give a blow by blow of each session, because I would not be able to do justice and will probably I'll end up doing a lousy job.

I think what I'll do is to share my take away messages from these thought-provoking sessions and share what were some of the common threads. And probably I will do so in installments :)

Evolution of TedTalks

June Cohen (@junecohen) Executive Producer of TED Media shared the behind the scenes and the backstory of TedTalks. Her talk was so inspiring that deserves to feature among the thousand other inspiring TedTalks. I wish she would post it on TedTalks.

Did you know that TedTalks started in 1984 and initially it was a techie talk? Is not it incredible how these talks have transformed. This was a great uplifting message. Because it shows that change can happen. June shared how this happened, and in doing so, I think she summarized what ended being the "fil rouge" of the day:

feed the hunger of participation

encourage sharing - no one has the monopoly of good ideas

listen to your users

reach out to people everywhere

do not forget to tell a story

engage emotionally

focus - no butterfly syndrome!

As a development worker, I got so excited when she shared the example of TEDx in the slums of Kibera, just outside of Nairobi in Kenya. And I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard her talk about the TEDx in a box,

June and her colleagues realized that TEDx events are a great learning opportunity and a source of inspiration for people in developing countries. However, lack of infrastructure often prevents them from organizing such events. This is why they launched the "TEDx in a Box" programme.

The programme is still in pilot phase. This magic box has a projector, a PA system, a DVD player, batteries and inverter, two camcorders, a tripod, a power strip and an SD card. It comes with a quick guide providing guidance on how to organize events and use the equipment.

It sounds like the best thing after sliced better, and is something that I would like to definitely explore and see how and where we can use it in my organization.

Those of us working in big organizations know that it is not always easy to herald in new ideas.

Leslie Berland, SVP of Digital Partnerships and Development from American Express (@leslieberland) eloquently expressed the challenges we've all faced in her opening remarks: "When a big company enters social media, it's like giving birth".

Sounds familiar? Leslie shared how American Express shed its old skin and successfully entered the digital and social media world and her nuggets of wisdom are very similar to how June and her colleagues are engaging with their audience at Ted:

identify the unmet need. In other words ask yourself, is there a problem to be solved?

prioritize the biggest business opportunities

drive speed to market. This one is very dear to most of us who have helped our organizations embrace 21st century.Leslie talked about the need of changing internal processes to keep up with external realities, to think of what has not been done before and re-imagine how to do things. This very point came out loud and clear, in the afternoon during the futureproofing your brand session with Cindy Gallop. Cindy said we need to reinvent our business to do business in the modern world and need to change our business models so that we can engage with our audience. ENGAGE and FOCUS were among the key concepts of the day!

maximize leverage. This point too, came out during the futureproofing your brand session, where Cindy talked about the importance of creating and nurturing a community

create authentic relationships

Leslie talked about how for eight months, the Amex folks listened to the chatter to find out more about their audience and better understand their needs. Also, as a global organization to make sure their campaign succeeded they involved all their various country offices.

My take home messages from Leslie's talk was to ENGAGE and FOCUS. She said: "90% of our strategy is about what we do not know and what we do not do".

The bottom line is, if you are going social, you may as well just focus all your energy on going social. As Leslie said, if your campaign is on Facebook, do your advertising there.... This is no-brainer, right? and yet, it seems to be a very hard concept to internalize for many!

She also said: "think like a start-up, be rooted in reality with an eye towards scaling". She then went on to say how important it is to identify those things which are not "non-replicable" and do them and while doing them, forge deep partnerships and stay authentic.

During the question and answer session, Leslie was asked how much Amex spends on its social media presence and how the team was configured.

No one likes to talk about budgets... Suffice to say, that it was pretty clear that Amex is spending good money on it social presence. She also said that she will never outsource "community development", emphasizing the importance of the business staying close to its client-base. After all is not that called accountability and when you go social, you need to create and nurture a community.

Poter Novelli has done a great job summarizing Leslie's talk. So, make sure you read her blogpost.

#Mashcon soundbite of the day

I need to close this blogpost, or else I will be late. More to come later and I want to do so, with the soundbite of the day which may be heresy for many... but whether you like it or not this is the reality.... so, just get your head around it!

"If you can't explain it in 140 characters, your idea is too complicated!"

Friday, 4 May 2012

At the prime age of almost 50, last night I felt like a teenager..... No, I did not meet Brad Pitt, but you are not too far off.... I met Pete Cashmore the CEO and founder of Mashable!

I've heard Pete calling himself a geek. However, I believe he is more of a trendsetter than a geek!

Last night in his welcoming and opening remarks at Mashable Connect 2012, he shared his vision for the future of the digital world:

goodbye laptops, welcome tablets

goodbye mouse and cursor, welcome mobile

goodbye content creation, welcome content curation

goodbye wallets, welcome mobile money

goodbye 20th century hardware, welcome 3D printers and more

goodbye Flickr, welcome Instagram

Pete Cashmare, CEO and founder of Mashable, at Mashable Connect 2012

Now, who in their right mind would challenge anyone of Pete's predications? The millennials, together with social media junkies and open-minded digital inhabitant will probably say NO ONE.

Yet, there are many people who are stuck in time, clinging tightly to 20th century way of life and paradigm.

These people fail to see the opportunities the new digital world offers and can seriously hinder progress.

So, I guess my question is, how can we help the skeptics and those running IT departments to see the future? How can we help them take a bold step and participate in heralding in the future, as opposed to resisting it? How can we make them understand, whether they like it or not, Pete's vision will become reality in 6 weeks time, because the future is just around the corner and not some far-fetched science fiction movie.

If there is anyone out there who has managed to convert the naysayers and skeptics, please share your experience and your bag of tricks.

I for one am looking forward to learn a lot and meet lots of inspiring people at Mashable Connect 2012 and see how I can use what the new digital world offers to enhance my work of development worker.

Do not miss this unique gathering, follow Mashable Connect 2012 on Twitter #mashcon.